Taking a Chance on Love
by Elenhin
Summary: While taking a chance on love, is something you sometimes feel you have to do, you need to be sure the chance is worth the risk.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: It seems a lot of the time my stories are to some extent inspired by one or another creation of my Uncle Vinsmouse's, and it's like it once again. This is no sequel or anything like it, it's just an idea came to mind when I read one of her stories.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix…. The girl however I've got to claim as mine, so let me know if you'd want her once I'm done with this, ;)

* * *

**Taking a Chance on Love**

_**Chapter 1: The News**_

Jesse frowned as he woke up by a noise coming from the kitchen. He had heard it too many times not to recognize it, somehow, whenever the boys had one glass too many they never could walk past that kitchen chair, they always fell over it, and one day sooner or later that chair would break.

He just never could figure out how come they simply didn't walk around it, but it was just the way the boys were. Hearing the scraping of someone straightening it up, and then the silent padding of someone who had taken his boots of he figured whoever it was could manage on his own.

If not, they wouldn't have gotten back up again, and Jesse was firm in the belief of letting them pay for it if they had more than they could carry out. Hangovers didn't get anyone out of work as long as he was in charge, and it was a rare thing for the boys to get that drunk. Still they were young, they were allowed to make the mistakes of youth.

Falling back to sleep he was sure he'd know which one it was in the morning.

Sure enough, when he entered the kitchen in the morning Luke was already there, nursing a cup of black coffee and an aching head both.

"I see you were having fun last night," Jesse chuckled as he grabbed the skillet and put it on the stove, grinning as Luke winced at the sound.

"Not as much as ya'd think," the boy mumbled.

Jesse frowned, that didn't sound as if Luke had been drinking them down with his buddies. "So how come ya got that drunk then? If it wasn't fer fun."

"Pure stupidity, I reckon," Luke shrugged. "T'was that or throwing a fist through the wall." Swallowing the last of the coffee he pushed to his feet. "I'll get started on the chores."

Luke came back inside when the breakfast was just about ready, carrying the egg basket and the milk pail with him. Bo and Daisy was already seated at the table, Bo with his hair still damp from his morning shower.

Not commenting on the hangover Jesse served them all up a plate as Luke sat down at the table, saying grace before the boys started eating. Still, he could tell something was heavy on his oldest mind.

"Wanna tell us what's bothering ya, Luke?" Jesse finally asked.

"Not particularly," Luke managed. "See, I don't reckon yer gonna like it none."

"In that case I think it's something I should hear, out with it boy," Jesse told him firmly, putting down his fork.

"Sally an' me are gonna get married," Luke told them looking down.

"Luke, that's amazing!" Daisy exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck while Bo hollered loudly. Jesse however knew what that look in his eyes meant.

"Luke, how far gone is she?" he asked quietly, dampening the others mirth.

"I don't know, she just, that is she came to me yesterday an' said," Luke broke off unable to continue.

"She's pregnant?" Bo burst out.

"Luke!" Daisy chided, smacking him on the arm.

"Well, ya know what ya's got to do then," Jesse nodded. "Does her folks know?"

Luke shook his head, "No, she ain't told them yet."

"Well, I reckon we's best get this done with as soon as possible," Jesse stated. "Ya can wear yer suit Luke."

Luke nodded, knowing what that meant, no church wedding. They'd go before the justice of the peace as soon as possible before anything showed, and the way his uncle pointed it out he knew how disappointed the old man was in him.

"May I be excused?" he asked, unable to eat anymore.

"You may," Jesse nodded. "If ya need some time to think, I'll let ya have that to, but be sure ya do the right thing."

"Yes, sir," Luke pushed off from the table and hurried outside. Climbing the ladder to the hayloft he sank down in a deep brooding.

"I can't believe Luke did that?" Daisy burst out, shaking her head.

"I can, I guess," Bo admitted. "I mean, he'd mean no harm, but he's, well, experienced."

"That don't excuse it Bo," Jesse told him sternly. "I hope yer gonna learn from this, because he's gonna be living with that mistake for the rest of his life."

In the meantime Luke was doing some heavy thinking. He had been aware of the risk when he did it. Sally was a hot head who never thought about consequences. Luke was the smart one, the one who should have known better but right then he hadn't cared. He knew nothing about kids, but he liked spending times with the kids at the orphanage. If he was gonna be a daddy he was determined to be a good one, and he was pretty sure that he could be. He had plenty of experience from when Bo was little.

The though of settling down scared him, but it could be worse, he was fairly sure that his uncle would let them settle down somewhere on the farm. He and Bo could easily build a small house for them, and he'd be able to work the farm as always.

As long as he was close to his family he was pretty sure that he would be able to handle it all. In fact he supposed that he was more ready for it than Sally was, and he wasn't sure about spending the rest of his life with her, but he could live with it if he had to. Never going with any other girls, now that one would be harder, but it was like his uncle said, a man had to do what a man had to do. He'd just have to deal with it.

At least he could still be looking at the girls when he went to the Boar's Nest, because there was no way any girl he wound up marrying told him what he could and couldn't do. Not on his free time when he wanted to cut back with his cousin.

Slipping back down the ladder again he got started on the chores, wishing he could head for the kitchen and get something for his aching head. It was pounding pretty bad and the hard work he was doing wasn't helping none. Yet there was work he had been putting off, more than once, and he was in more trouble already than he knew what to do with. The strangest thing was that for once it wasn't because of a little fat man in a white suit, it was all his own doing.

The two of them had sneaked off, and boy had they done some sneaking at that. Gone off to the pond and spent the night in an old fishing cabin there when her folks were out of town. Luke had taken her home in the early dawn, going back to the farm and slipping in through the bathroom window. Using his knife to open the hatch he had climbed in as quietly as possible, grabbed a quick shower and when he was in the bedroom changing clothes Bo woke up, thinking that Luke had already made his bed, and never knew he hadn't even been sleeping in it. He never lied, no one knew he had been out that late, not even Jesse who always seemed to know even seemed to suspect it. The only thing he did was telling Luke he'd better cut down on the coffee before he burned a hole in his belly.

Well, he got away with it, just as he had before. He had been out with her later than he should many nights, and Jesse never knew a thing. Because the only clue was that Luke was drinking a few extra cups of coffee to keep himself alert, but since that happened every now and again for other reasons, Jesse just didn't seem to think about it.

While he didn't care much for the idea of talking with her parents, that wouldn't happen yet as they were still away, visiting some relative, and she was alone in Hazzard. When they got back, Luke had no doubt he would be running, ducking buck shots. As if he was the only one to blame, it was her choice as much as his. In fact, all he had done was letting her do what she wanted to do. He wasn't sure exactly why he was supposed to be the only one responsible.

Thinking about it he was distracted enough to bring down the hammer on his finger rather than the nail and he dropped the hammer muttering curses under his breath while grabbing at the hurt finger. Cursing louder as the hammer he had dropped landed on his boot instead of the ground.

"Lucas!" his Uncle snapped behind him and Luke sighed. It was just what he needed for his uncle to hear him curse.

"Sorry, sir," he mumbled.

"Language like that ain't gonna make nothing better," Jesse pointed out as he came closer. "Not yer clumsiness of hitting yer fingers, any more then yer stupidity with that girl."

"Thanks fer reminding me, I'd near forgotten about that," Luke told him sourly picking up the hammer again.

"Hold it a minute Luke," Jesse went on and Luke paused, mainly because there was a different note in his uncle's voice. "Here son," Jesse told him and Luke turned around and saw him holding out a glass of lemonade. It had to be cold because there was moisture forming on the glass.

Still Luke made no move to take it, right now he didn't know what to expect, why would his uncle be bringing him lemonade, just to get a chance to lecture him again? It didn't really make sense.

"It might help with yer headache some," Jesse pointed out, stepping closer and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Go on, sit down an' have a drink."

So Luke sank down on the ground while leaning his back against the fence while he sipped the cool lemonade, finding that it soothed both his dry throat and his aching head. The cold glass felt pretty good on his sore finger to, come to think about it.

"Luke, don't ya reckon we should talk any about this?" Jesse asked him in a softer voice than Luke had expected.

"What is there to talk about?" Luke asked taking another sip. "I already know I'm the disgrace of the family."

His voice let Jesse knew just how bad he felt about it. "Now, I wouldn't say that Luke, but we all make our mistakes. We both know what yer mistake here is, an' mine, well, I reckon mine is not giving ya enough support."

"I don't know what yer talking about," Luke told him.

"I reckon ya sneaked off wi' her," Jesse told him thoughtfully. "Don't know exactly what ya was thinking, but I do know one thing, it ain't because ya wasn't. Yer a smart boy Luke, there are times I get to thinking yer smarter than me."

"Oh yeah, that'd be the day," Luke snorted.

"Would ya quiet interrupting me?" Jesse demanded, wondering what had brought that on, usually the boy took pride in his greater intellect. "What I'm trying to tell ya is that I know yer mighty smart Luke, an' I know that I don't really have to worry about them two other kids when they's with ya because I know just what ya can do to look out fer them, but I keep forgetting someone ought to be looking out fer you to. I reckon I ain't been doing that quiet as much as I should. Because I'm thinking if I had, then maybe we wouldn't be here talking about this."

"Look Uncle Jesse, I ain't a little kid no more, I'm a grown man, yer always telling us that a man has to take responsibility fer the things that he does, so quit trying to take the blame fer my mistake. If ya feel like ya can't believe how I could fail ya as much as I did, then tell me so, but don't go trying to make it better by putting me on yer lap like if I's still five," Luke told him angrily. He knew he was out of line by talking that way to his uncle, but it was just something he had to say. To his surprised Jesse didn't get mad, just gave him a sad smile.

"I know yer a grown man Luke, but that don't mean yer on yer own, ya's always a mite to quick to show how independent ya was, but Luke, even if ya made a mistake, yer still my little boy, an' I'm gonna be there fer ya. If yer gonna be marrying that girl an' making a family wi' the little tyke, I don't want ya thinking I'm so disappointed that this ain't yer home no more."

"Then how disappointed are ya?" Luke wanted to know. "In there, it kinda sounded like I'd be thrown out of the family." He knew it wasn't quite it, but at the moment he was hurting, and that hurt had to go somewhere. He knew that no matter what, Jesse would never shut him out, he knew that. It was just that he was angry and he was hurting, when his uncle took the anger away, Luke tried to hide the hurt, and the only way to do that was to cover it with more anger.

"Not so much ya need to be out here hammering yer fingers down to a nub," Jesse told him. "I'm disappointed I reckon, but I got to do some thinking as well. I was telling myself that ya ought to have had more sense being the oldest, but that ain't hardly fair to ya, them other two is big enough now it ain't fair to always make ya out as the one has to know best. Luke, listen to me son, whatever mistake ya made, we're all gonna be here for ya to try an' work it out, I promise."

Luke nodded, taking another sip of the lemonade, starting to feel a little better.

Jesse patted his back, wishing the boy wasn't gonna be put through that. He was thinking that he'd probably done the boy wrong a time or two, because when Luke started trying to show his independence, Jesse had matched it by putting more and more responsibilities on him. He had put Luke in the role of answering for the actions of the two younger cousins, when all three kids did wrong, he always came down the hardest on Luke, because he was the oldest and ought to know better. It wasn't fair to assume he'd always know better, and it was just a crying shame that it took something might destroy his entire future before Jesse came to see that.

Patting the boy on the back again and taking the now empty glass he walked back to the house, hoping he could keep the boy from being miserable for the rest of his life.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry…._


	2. Getting Ready For The Wedding

Author's Note: It seems a lot of the time my stories are to some extent inspired by one or another creation of my Uncle Vinsmouse's, and it's like it once again. This is no sequel or anything like it, it's just an idea came to mind when I read one of her stories.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix…. The girl however I've got to claim as mine, so let me know if you'd want her once I'm done with this, ;)

* * *

**Taking a Chance on Love**

_**Chapter 2: Getting Ready For The Wedding**_

As the Dukes were starting to plan the things for the wedding they all noticed a change in Luke. The first week the brunette was gloomy and kind of foul tempered. Snapping a few times and never seeming to be in the mood to do anything as Bo tried to draw him out and cheer him up. Then seemingly in front of their eyes he changed.

He went for a drive in the morning, and when he came back sometime after lunch he was happier, much happier. Jesse grinned when he figured out what accounted for the change, having walked into the boys bedroom he came just in time to see Luke tuck away a little teddy bear in his drawer. Luke was starting to look forward to the prospect of being a father, he wanted that little baby and Jesse was glad for his sake. As long as Luke wanted the baby, he'd be doing alright.

He was getting ready himself, to be a grand uncle though he felt more like he was gonna be a grand father. Oh, he loved to have them little bundles around, he was sure looking forward to that. Still, Sally wasn't the most motherly kind, and Luke wasn't very experienced, so Jesse had made them a suggestion. To wait with fixing the house and simply stay at the farm for some time. That way, they'd be getting more help with the little one.

Luke agreed to, and while Sally argued at first, Luke quickly talked her into it. Mainly he simply pointed out that it would mean she'd not be stuck with all of the household work, since the rest of them would still be doing their share. It had her convinced real quick. The marriage could not happen before her parents came back into town, but Luke was keeping real busy. He was hiring himself out to anyone who would have him. Normally the two Duke boys never worked anymore than they had to, but now he took anything he could find. Getting an account in the bank he put all the money there. He and Bo had used to keep one between the two of them, but now he got his own. He'd need the money to support his wife and kid, and while everyone in town gossiped about him, and it was not popular, there was several who was more than willing to let him earn a few bucks. Though he supposed some did it to snide him. It was hard to think else when he saw some of the jobs he was asked to.

Patching barn roofs and mending fences was nothing new, building a new outhouse he could see doing, and he had cleaned out his fare share of chicken coops at the farm. Yet he was asked to tear down a long since abandoned outhouse, load up everything and haul it off to the fields to spread it over the crops, as well as to load up a large heap of manure and ride it of to the forest and dump it.

After work like that he had to stop on his way home for a dip in the pond, scrubbing off his clothes briefly and pulling on a change before he went home. Daisy refused to touch hi clothes to clean them if they were too dirty, and Sally wasn't about to do it either. Every dollar he could get his hands on though was one that would provide for his child, and Luke even let himself be hired by Boss Hogg, thought that turned out to be a mistake. He worked for a full day hauling crates and barrels around for him at a warehouse of his, only to find out he got no pay, Boss kept it all for to pay for something he claimed Luke had broken.

Normally he would have argued about it, but now he just headed home to draw himself a hot bath to sooth his aching back. Arguing would most likely have meant getting arrested, and what kind of father would he be then? He even stopped going to the Boar's Nest to save those few bucks as well.

He thought he had done pretty good in two weeks, and smiled to himself as he went to put another five dollars into the bank account, intending to head right home and drop out on the couch until supper was ready. He had been up on Mr. Henderson's barn roof all day, and since he had risen two hours earlier than usual just to get his chores done in time so that he could do that. He figured he had earned a short nap.

Walking inside the house he offered his uncle a nod and set out his course for the couch, dropping down on it and sighing. Jesse frowned thoughtfully as he watched him, all of them was getting ready in their own way. He and Daisy had been up in the attic to check over all of the things left since the boys were little. Pending on whatever it was a boy or girl there wasn't much they'd have to get. If it was a girl, Daisy could sew some dresses, but if it was a boy, they still had all of Bo's baby clothes. They had all they needed to raise a child, they just hadn't set it all up yet since they wanted Sally's parents to get a say.

It had still been decided that when the time came, Bo would be moving into Jesse's bedroom while Luke and Sally would make the boys old bedroom theirs combined with a nursery. It made sense since their room was the slightly bigger one. Jesse and Martha had made it that way since they had known they would always be sharing. Now he left the kitchen and walked over to his nephew where he lay on his stomach on the couch. The thing wasn't very big, so Luke had his feet hanging of the armrest, one arm curled under his head and the other off the side to the floor.

"Luke, how ya doing son?" he asked softly.

"Tired," Luke mumbled. "Gonna take a nap before supper."

"Do ya reckon ya ought to go lie down on yer bed instead?" Jesse suggested thinking he'd be more comfortable if he did.

"No, ain't moving, an' if I did, I wouldn't wake up fer supper," Luke told him quietly.

"Ya know Luke, I think ya ought to stay home here tomorrow, rest up some," Jesse suggested.

"Can't, promised Mr. Pringles I'd be over right after chores to put up a new fence for him."

"I can call him, I don't reckon he'd mind waiting a day," Jesse offered. "Ya look just plumb tuckered out there."

"I promised," Luke objected. "Sides, I've got to go help dig a new well the day after, so I wouldn't be doing myself no favor."

"Luke, yer getting all worn out, ya need to get some good rest," Jesse pointed out.

Luke grunted as he turned around. "When I get to be a father, there ain't gonna be nothing like putting it all off fer a day so I can get some rest. I owe it to that kid to make sure there's always gonna be food an' clothes, an' I intend to start right now."

"Luke, as long as there's any Dukes alive an' breathing, that kid ain't gonna lack fer nothing," Jesse pointed out. "We's gonna take care of the little one, but ya have to take care of yerself as well."

"I am," Luke told him. "It feels good. It really does Uncle Jesse, I might be working hard, an' I might be a bit sore, but it feels good. I know I'm doing something good."

Jesse nodded understandingly. "I guess I can understand that, but if yer so all set on going there working in the morning, why don't ya leave the chores to me an' Bo, an' ya can get just a little extra sleep?"

"No thanks," Luke shook his head. "I'm gonna take my responsibility, an' I'm gonna start doing it right now. Now, if ya don't mind, I'd like to take that nap."

Jesse nodded, getting to his feet and hoping his boy wouldn't work himself to death before his child was born. "Well, ya take a nap then, an' I'll get ya when it's time fer supper."

Luke grunted an acknowledgment before dropping his head back down and nodding off immediately.

Jesse had to admit to himself that there were several things about the union he didn't like. For one, Luke was doing all the work. Sally wasn't really doing anything about it. More then complain when Luke was to worn out tired in the evenings to take her out to have fun. She did not seem to understand that the boy was putting in sometimes as much as eighteen hours of hard work everyday, and needed to sleep for the rest.

She wanted to go out and have fun, she wanted Luke to take her to the Boar's Nest so she could enjoy herself. During the days she mostly seemed to be out with her friends, and it didn't seem fair to Jesse. Luke wasn't complaining though, he was doing his best to keep her happy, and even did take her out a few times. Though Jesse made sure Bo was there as well, they did not need for Luke to fall asleep while driving home.

Most everything was ready for the baby when it came, and Jesse wasn't blind to the times Luke climbed up into the attic, sneaking up when he thought no one would notice. He had gathered up a few treasures as well, and stowed them away with the rest of it. Little things he had found for the baby, and while he didn't really let his family know, Jesse thought it was so sweet.

He had no doubts that Luke would be a good father, for the first time ever that Jesse could recall, Luke wanted to know things from the time when he and Bo was babies. Jesse knew it was a way for him to prepare himself, and he wasn't really asking, but he was looking at a few baby pictures, and so Jesse started telling him stories.

Then Sally started to demand more and more attention, she had mood swings where she would be yelling at Luke one moment, and crying in his arm the next. A few times when her mood turned for the worst, she even threw a punch at him, and Luke simply tried to comfort her through it.

The next thing was the cravings, still staying at her parents house she'd be calling Luke in the middle of the night, wanting him to come over and fixing her something special to eat. While Jesse knew that the cravings could be very real for a pregnant woman, something just didn't seem right to him. She was too early in the pregnancy. There was still not even a hint of the baby showing, but she sure acted as if she was further gone. He was trying to keep an eye on it though, and tried to discourage Luke from any nightly trips, putting his foot down on them entirely when he went out of the house one morning and found Luke asleep in the driver's seat of the pickup. As soon as he was back home, Luke had simply turned the engine off and gone to sleep with his arms over the wheel. So Jesse informed Sally he didn't care what she wanted, Luke wasn't leaving the house in the middle of the night to get it for her.

He was getting more and more concerned over the whole situation, and so were the rest of the Dukes as well, thought neither of them seemed to be able to get through to Luke about it. Yet as Sally started fretting about complications, and got Luke all worked up Jesse demanded she went to see Doc Appleby to get examined, and figured that it would put an end to her fears. Before the country doctor told him the result, he had no idea just how well it would work.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry…._


	3. The Truth

Author's Note: It seems a lot of the time my stories are to some extent inspired by one or another creation of my Uncle Vinsmouse's, and it's like it once again. This is no sequel or anything like it, it's just an idea came to mind when I read one of her stories.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix…. The girl however I've got to claim as mine, so let me know if you'd want her once I'm done with this, ;)

* * *

**Taking a Chance on Love**

_**Chapter 3: The Truth**_

"Well, Doc?" Jesse asked as the elderly man came through the door. Normally the doctor wasn't supposed to discuss his patients, but he had beforehand requested permission to inform the Dukes, and Sally had agreed.

"How's the baby?" Luke wanted to know, normally reserved he was now showing clear signs of agitation.

"Luke, perhaps ya'd better sit down," the kind old man suggested.

"What's wrong?" Luke demanded, getting slightly pale. "What's wrong with the baby?" he demanded while Jesse steered him to a chair and sat him down.

"Luke, there ain't no baby," Doc Appleby told him softly.

"What? She lost it?" Luke demanded jumping to his feet.

"No Luke, there never was no baby," the doctor explained. "Luke, she never had any real reason to believe so. I hate to say it, but the girl just up and assumed that she was going to be having a baby because the two of you had been together, but there just isn't a baby, it was all in her head."

"I don't believe that," Luke objected. "How could it all be just in her head?"

"Luke, no offence meant to the girl, but that girl is just a small child who's read too many cheap novels. I'm sorry if ya wanted the baby Luke, but there won't be none," the doctor told him gently.

"I need to think," not really offering an explanation Luke shook his head and walked outside. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, but on the same he knew that the doctor would never lie. He just needed some time to think about it and work it out.

"I'm sorry Jesse, but maybe it was for the best," Doc Appleby told his old friend. "That girl wouldn't be good for Luke, when I told her, she just asked me to tell Luke that the wedding was off. He'd never be happy with her, an' he deserves someone that he can be happy with."

"I know what ya mean," Jesse nodded. "I was starting to have my doubts the way that girl acted. An' I reckon Luke will see it to, he was just really starting to take to the idea that he was gonna have one of them little ones."

"I know, an' it would've been a sweet thing to, but he's just better of without that girl, he'll see that in just a little while Jesse, soon as he gets the time he needs to think about it."

"I know," Jesse nodded. "I'll take care of him."

"Ya call me if ya need anything?" the country doctor requested.

"I will, I really appreciate ya coming an' telling us this," Jesse told him honestly.

"It was no problem," his old friend told him. "Just take care of Luke now."

"I sure do intend to," Jesse told him. He sure did his best, but if Luke had been gloomy before, it was nothing compared to the mood he was in now. It was all they could do to drag two words out of him, or coax him to eat a couple of bites. Jesse told the other two kids to give him some time and space. Though he himself planned to sit down and talk to him as soon as he was given an opportunity.

He got it when he came to try and get Luke to go to bed one evening and found him on the porch swing, holding the teddy bear he had gotten for the baby.

"Ya really wanted that little fella?" he said as he sat down beside him.

"I wanted the baby," Luke nodded. "Felt so right."

"But Sally wasn't someone ya'd have been happy with," Jesse pointed out. "I know ya knew that Luke, so why'd ya take that chance?"

"I wanted a family I reckon," Luke shrugged. "Yer always saying that Bo an' me won't be producing no family, but I want to have a wife an' kid someday."

"Someday," Jesse nodded. "But Luke, it ain't the right way to do it, ya need to wait till ya find a girl ya really love, then ya go on about getting one of them little fellas."

"I don't know the right way, I don't know when to ask them to marry me," Luke objected. "I figured if I took a chance, maybe I'd get lucky."

"It just don't work that way, Little Boy," Jesse sighed. "Luke, when ya find a girl is right for ya, yer just gonna know, because then everything seems right, and there ain't gonna be no need fer no chances. I thought ya knew that?"

"Well maybe I don't know everything then," Luke told him sourly.

"An' no one expects ya to, but Luke, I promise ya, when ya find the right girl, yer gonna know it, an' it ain't gonna be like this. Now, why don't ya go to bed, what ya need is a good nights sleep."

"Alright," Luke got to his feet and headed for bed.

Jesse hoped he would be doing better soon, because Luke was fairly depressed.

To his great relief, the boy did seem better in the morning though. He wasn't quite as downcast and replied to Bo when his cousin spoke to him. Asking Bo for the keys to the General Lee he went off for a drive and while he was gone long enough for the rest of them to start worrying, he seemed to be doing a whole lot better when he came back and Jesse smiled. Luke was a smart boy, he never doubted that he would figure things out for the best.

He tried to mind himself to give his eldest more support though, so that he'd be able to avoid that kind of problems in the future, but it wasn't easy. Luke closed the account in the bank, putting the money into his and Bo's mutual one. That money would no doubt wound up as parts on the General, and he did seem to have learned his lesson.

It was just hard to know what to do with a boy who was so independent and so sure of himself. He never seemed to figure out for himself when he needed advice and support. If you didn't keep a close eye on him you would never know.

Luke moved on by putting the baby things away in the attic and as far as Jesse knew he didn't go there again, a little reluctant to find himself a date Daisy took matters in her own hand and set him up with one of her friends one evening. Once Ledbetter caught sight of him and started challenging him on his way of handling the girls, Luke simply gave him a wide grin and a hard punch.

While he came home with a face full of bruises Jesse didn't say anything about it as Luke was happier than he had been in a long time. The next time Luke set himself up with a girl and found he wanted a family, he hoped he would know to do it the right way, and that he would be there for him and help him to do it. He had come to realize that Luke needed his help and support just as much as the other two kids, but in a very different way. As a parent it was his responsibility to make sure that he got it.

He smiled to himself watching Bo and Luke discuss girls again, taking mock offence as they declared the other to have poor taste, things was sure getting back to normal.

**TBC**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry…._


	4. Wishing I Took A Chance

Author's Note: It seems a lot of the time my stories are to some extent inspired by one or another creation of my Uncle Vinsmouse's, and it's like it once again. This is no sequel or anything like it, it's just an idea came to mind when I read one of her stories.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix…. The girl however I've got to claim as mine, so let me know if you'd want her once I'm done with this, ;)

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**Taking a Chance on Love**

_**Chapter 4: Wishing I Took A Chance**_

Taking a seat on the bench by the bus stop Luke sank down into deep thoughts. The girl he had seen leaving on that bus had been more special than he thought anyone could ever be. He hadn't really told his family about it either, because he just hadn't known how. Bo was off being a big race car driver, a star driver, and he was busy with his life. In between charming ladies and wrecking cars his baby cousin had grown up to a fine man.

Daisy whom had been having enough trouble with one bad marriage wasn't someone he should bother about it either. Though he had to admit to himself it wasn't only that thinking that had held him back.

If his uncle had still been alive, he knew that there would have been no way for him to keep the secret he had wound up keeping even if he had never meant for it to be that way. It was just that his cousin couldn't hear the change in his voice anymore as they talked on the phone. Truth was Luke had been lonely without his baby cousin, and in the odd hours when he had nothing left to do, he found himself strolling down for a cup of coffee, as he walked in through the door, Anita walked into his heart. She made herself right at home there and suddenly downtime was no problem.

Luke felt right at home in her arms, she was a great girl, she was smart and beautiful. She had wits enough to challenge him and she had great taste in music. While he and Bo hadn't really gone on stage and performed with their guitars for real, they had on occasion for fun, and he wasn't a stranger to it. As it turned out, he had even more experience than Anita who dreamed about being a singer.

Being whom he was, Luke decided to help her along. He knew a thing or two about playing and singing, he knew how to write a song, and while he didn't tell her so, he had learnt a lot of it from Waylon Jennings whom had through a series of events been a friend to his uncle.

She was good, and he never doubted that she could make it given half a chance, so he pushed her along. He encouraged her to play at the local bars, he spent so many nights with her and their guitars just so she would be good enough when the chance came, and he would make damn sure that she took it when it did.

He casually mentioned Anita to Bo, but as it was, they never got to meet each others, he had planned to take her to one of his races and introduce her. Would have done so except for the big forest fire that broke out in the area, and work had to come first. By the time that fire was under control Bo had already won the race and moved on to the next one.

So the two had never met yet, and now it was too late, because he had just seen her off on the way to Nashville.

What he would be doing he didn't know, he'd be lonely, but he had been lonely before and he supposed that it was his own fault. He kept telling himself that it was for her sake, because while he could have married her and gone with her, possibly even played with her, he told himself that the last thing she needed was a husband to complicate her career. The plain truth was that he was scared, his dream had always been racing on the NASCAR circuit and working there as a mechanic. He was happy to let Bo be the genius driver as long as he was the one who put together the engine his cousin carried under his hood. He had gotten to live that dream, and he was afraid that if Anita didn't get to live hers, she'd wind up hating him for having chosen him instead.

Luke had always been more insecure than most people though, he was afraid of being rejected, of being turned down, and he did stupid things because of it. Like putting a girl on the bus knowing he'd never see her again. He did it because it was easier to make her walk out on him, than it would be if she did so later out of grief.

He had done it before, Jesse had told him that when it came to women he had as much sensitivity as a buzz-saw. It wasn't entirely true, but he did challenge them. If they walked out on him after the first date out of anger, well, then they wouldn't be dumping him after a year, when he had learnt to rely on them too much to make it on his own again. So easing his conscious towards himself by saying he had done it for her sake, he knew in his heart just what it was he had done. He also thought about what his uncle had once told him, that when he had found the right girl he would know, because then everything would be right.

It sure had been the case with Anita, nothing could have been more right, but Jesse had also been wrong, because Luke couldn't do what he should.

He remembered the time he had taken a foolish chance, because he thought maybe it would take matters out of his hands and he would get himself a family. It had been a disaster, the girl assumed she was pregnant for no reason, they hadn't slept with each other, just spent the night with together after all, and Luke was allowed to think he would get the family that he wanted, but it didn't work that way. There was no child, and Luke was left to continue as before.

Jesse had told him that when he found the right girl, there would be no need for chances, but for the first time he had been wrong.

With everything having been just right Luke hadn't had the courage to do what he should and ask her, and now as he had seen the bus leave he wished he had taken the same chance for real. Maybe if he had she wouldn't be leaving, maybe if he had, she would be having a family with him.

Maybe if he wasn't such a big coward there would be no need for taking chances, but this was one time he wished he had done that, taken a chance on love. Getting up from the bench and starting walking he could only hope that when his time came, Bo would be smarter than him, and not repeat the same mistake. He would do his best to ensure that, after all, he was better at looking out for Bo than he was at doing the same for himself.

Sighing softly he smiled to himself, wondering how long it would be before he heard about the famous Anita Blackwell on the radio, and if she by then, would still remember him…

**The End**

_Please review, the Cricket is hungry…._


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